Chapter 14
He opened another cupboard and took out a box of protein bars.
“Should you just be helping yourself?”
He glanced at her, where she leaned over the table checking the route he’d figured out. “I ate all mine on the bus out of boredom.” He grinned. “It’s good. I’m real tight with the guy that restocks all the safe houses.”
“Oh?” She straightened up.
“Yeah.” He closed the cupboard. “It’s me.”
She cocked her head to the side and stared at him. “I see.” She tapped a hand on the map. “This route is good.”
He tossed the box of bars in the air and then caught it. “I even took into consideration refueling and bathroom breaks.” He grinned. “Not my first rodeo, Oaklyn.”
She snorted. “I’m sure I’ve been to more rodeos than you.”
“It’s a saying. I didn’t mean it literally.”
“Oh.” She glanced at the map again. “I’m going to go get the car and fill up the gas tank, then we can head out.”
Zain set the box on the counter and went over to his bag. He reached into the hidden back pocket and pulled out an envelope of Alliance funds. He’d helped himself when he left. It was for members on the road. He was definitely on the road. He pulled out some bills and held them out to her. “Stock up on drinks too. Juice, whatever.”
She took the money and then looked at the envelope.
He tucked it back into the pocket. “All Alliance members get traveling money.” He decided to keep it to himself that he normally didn’t.
“The Alliance is sounding better every day.”
Zain nodded. “It’s going to be even better once we stop Aiden Tomas and all of his associates.”
“Associates?”
He went over and folded up the map. “The ambassadors that are working with Tomas—the Alliance is going to shut them all down too.”
“From everywhere?”
Zain tapped the map against his other hand. “Yeah. The Alliance is for the protection of all shifters, everywhere. We’re going to restore it to what it was meant to be.”
She raised her eyebrows. “So, all clans will be part of it.”
“They’re supposed to be already, but we dropped the ball. Or our grandparents did, I guess. Many lost touch, but we’ve been working on finding all and helping them.”
“The clans in the States are part of this?”
Zain nodded. “Yeah. It’s harder to get to them right now with Tomas scaring them into hiding, but we’ll get there.”
“You have a lot of confidence in the Alliance.”
“I do. Shepard Addison does what he says he’s going to.” He frowned, “his son will too.”
“They work together?”
Zain blew out a breath. He didn’t know whether to tell her or not. “When they find Shepard…”
“Find?”
“Yeah, he was taken a few days back, maybe a week.” He shook his head. “It’s a little fuzzy what day it is.”
“Aiden Tomas took him?”
Zain nodded.
Her forehead creased with worry.
“We’ll get him back. I’m sure Calum already has a plan.” He was the only one who knew for certain which area he’d been taken to, that he knew of.
“Mister Dante is very capable.”
Zain snorted. “Yeah, he is.”
“I’ll be back shortly.” She glanced at the map in his hand.
Zain watched her leave. He really wanted to call Illias now and ask if they’d found the king’s location yet. He glanced at his bag. He could give him the tracking software and they could send a team in. Blowing out a breath, he picked up his bag. He didn’t know what he could say in messages or emails right now, so that was going to have to wait until they were face-to-face. He grinned. It had been a long time since he’d seen Illias. He looked forward to it.